
Enjoy an inspirational performance from the talented youth musicians from the Boston String Academy. Serving 130 students each year in the Greater Boston community, the BSA was cofounded in 2012 by violinists Mariesther and Marielisa Alvarez, twin sisters who learned music in Venezuela’s storied national music education program, El Sistema, before attending Boston Conservatory together. The youth ensemble performs roughly 10 concerts per year at such notable halls as Carnegie Hall and the Hatch Memorial Shell with Boston Landmarks Orchestra.
BSA Performs at Shalin Liu
Boston String Academy (BSA) is a non-profit organization, inspired by the Venezuelan El Sistema model which believes in music as a vehicle for social change. They provide rigorous string instrument instruction to children in under-served communities. BSA aims to provide instruction of the highest quality, laying a musical foundation that could take a child to college or conservatory. Our program makes mastery of a string instrument reachable by eliminating obstacles that stand in an inner-city family’s way. 100% of tuition is subsidized, programs are offered in/near the children’s schools, and private lessons and instrument rentals are included in the orchestral training.
BSA was founded in 2012 by Marielisa and Mariesther Alvarez, and Taide Prieto. They are graduates from The Boston Conservatory, and of El Sistema programs in their home countries of Venezuela and Peru, and have modeled BSA on that experience. We currently offer three programs in the Chinatown and Allston neighborhoods, serving more than 120 students.
The Academy has collaborated with renowned artists including Midori Goto, Gustavo Dudamel and Sir Simon Rattle, and with organizations such as the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Boston Cultural Council, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Landmarks Orchestra, Longy School of Music, Boston Conservatory, Boston University, New England Conservatory, Johnson String Instrument, Celebrity Series of Boston, and Harvard University.